This invention relates to centrifugal jigs of the general type described in Australian Patent No. 573,960, in which a feed slurry is introduced into a rotating chamber bounded radially by a screen provided with ragging on its inner surface, the ragging being dilated repetitively to provide jigging action. The jig separates the materials in the feed slurry on the basis of differing specific gravities.
Centrifugal jigs according to Australian Patent No. 573,960 have proven to be highly effective, and are capable of separating materials having a specific gravity difference as low as 0.4. However, these jigs have been mainly restricted to relatively small units. Practical difficulties prevent this jig design being used for large scale jigs. In particular, the forces needed to overcome the hydrostatic pressure and pulse the water in a large hutch region would interfere with the balanced running of a large scale jig.